Skills for Green Jobs 2023 Update: A Global View
About this book
Skills for Green Jobs 2023 Update: A Global View, published by the International Labour Organization (ILO), provides an updated assessment of the skills requirements, training gaps, and policy frameworks needed to ensure that the global green economy transition generates quality employment and that the workforce is prepared for the occupational changes this transition requires. A follow-up to the landmark 2011 Skills for Green Jobs study, the 2023 update covers 30 countries across all regions and examines how labour market and skills development policies have evolved in response to accelerating decarbonisation. The report's central finding is that the green transition is generating rapidly increasing demand for both green-specific skills (competencies unique to green activities such as solar PV installation, energy auditing, circular economy design, or biodiversity assessment) and greened skills (competencies in traditional occupations that require updating to meet sustainability requirements, such as energy-efficient building construction, sustainable agriculture practices, or low-carbon manufacturing processes).
The distinction is analytically important because it implies different policy responses: green-specific skills require new training programmes and qualifications, while greened skills require the integration of sustainability content into existing vocational education and training (VET) and apprenticeship frameworks. Sector-specific analysis covers construction (the largest employer of green workers, with significant skill requirements in retrofitting, low-carbon materials, and smart building systems), renewable energy (high growth, relatively small employment base but rapidly expanding skills gaps in installation, operation and maintenance, and grid integration), manufacturing (greening of industrial processes, circular economy skills), transport (EV maintenance technicians, charging infrastructure installers), and agriculture and land management (precision agriculture, agroforestry, ecosystem services management). The report examines gender dimensions of the green jobs transition.
Women are significantly underrepresented in the technical occupations that are growing fastest in the green economy — electrical installation, civil engineering, manufacturing — while being overrepresented in sectors facing potential job losses from automation and decarbonisation (textile manufacturing, coal mining). Skills development policies that actively promote gender diversity in green technical occupations are identified as essential for a just transition. Policy recommendations address skills anticipation systems (early warning of emerging skills gaps through occupational forecasting), the greening of VET qualifications frameworks, sector-specific green skills compacts between governments and industry, and international recognition of qualifications to support worker mobility in the growing global green labour market.